PUMA mention in LA Times

Obama also faces discontent from some of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most ardent supporters, who are put off by what they describe as a campaign marked by hubris and a style dedicated to televised extravaganzas.

Susie Tompkins Buell, a major Clinton fundraiser, said: “The Clinton supporters that I know are bothered by these rock-star events. These spectacles are more about the candidate than they are about the party and the issues that we care about.”

Amy Siskind of Westchester, N.Y., is a Clinton supporter who said she wouldn’t vote for Obama. Siskind said she was especially offended when Obama hired Clinton’s former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, to work with his vice presidential nominee. Given that Solis Doyle was demoted by Clinton, the appointment was perceived by Clinton loyalists as a slight.

“Most folks feel that the battle is over and he’s the winner, but he’s really acted like a sore winner,” Siskind said. “If Hillary had been the nominee, you would have seen a much more deferential approach to Obama supporters.”

“I don’t think by any means, does BO have this deal closed with the Clinton crowd. Their contributors, women, women’s group they are not together. The Clinton people are not aboard. The Democratic party is not united and anybody that thinks that it is, is confused or diluted. This Democratic Party has got problems on it’s hands. And it’s BO challenge to bring Bill Clinton aboard. When I see their two faces together in the same room, I’ll believe it. I haven’t seen that yet. There is big time problems in the Democratic party.

That sum represented a measly 3.5 percent of Obama’s monthly total and less than a tenth of what Clinton herself raised in April. Most interestingly, only about half of the $1.8 million came from 355 Clinton donors contributing more than $2,000 apiece, which contradicts the notion that Obama is attracting significant support from the millions of small-sum donors from Clinton’s base.

Will Bower, the 36-year-old full-time head of the anti-Obama, pro-Clinton PUMA PAC, estimates that there are 250 PUMA-related Web sites and 2.5 million PUMAs online.